Colton Herta looking forward to home support in Miami

30 April 2026

As everyone heads to Miami for the very first time in Formula 2 history, Colton Herta is gearing up for a surprise home event in his rookie campaign.

The Hitech driver had been potentially looking at an Indy500 appearance combined with his F2 efforts in 2026, but says the prospect of racing in front of a home crowd this weekend is a huge boost going into Round 2 of the year.

“I love it. I think for me at the beginning of the year thought my only North American race was going to be the Indy500.

“So it's cool to have two F2 race weekends in two places that look really interesting and are very enjoyable tracks. I didn't have it on my bingo card, but I'm glad that I get to be in Miami and Montreal.

ROUND 2 - MIAMI

“I hope we have a great showing and people enjoy it and it opens doors to have F2 back because it would be awesome if that was another thing that F2 did consistently.”

In terms of his preparations for the upcoming races in North America, Herta says that he and Hitech have been pouring over the data from Melbourne.

It was a semi-successful debut in F2 for Herta, and following a crash in Free Practice, the American driver rebounded well to secure important points in Round 1.

He says that he is continuing to pick up on points to learn and take into the next races, and has been working hard in the simulator to take another step forward come Miami.

Herta hopes to put on a show for the home crowd in Miami this weekend

“I've been over here doing some work with Hitech, kind of going through stuff. It's hard because we don't have any previous data to learn from with Miami. So, really, I think for a lot of people, it's going to be a little bit of a guessing game to start off with.

“You're going to have to be quick on your feet with the changes that you're going to make between the one practice and Qualifying. But I think simulator models have been good and seems pretty representative, but I guess time will tell.”

After getting his feet under the table in Formula 2, Herta says there are some differences compared to the machinery he has driven prior to joining the Championship.

He says that there are early signs of decent progress and he believes he’s on the right track and enjoying his driving in 2026.

“The IndyCar, you get lap time out of it, and you can be very forceful with your inputs, with your feet and your hands. Whereas F2, you kind of have to massage it a little bit more, you have to be a little bit more delicate with it.

“And the way you get lap time out of the two are not similar. So I think there's been a little bit of a learning curve with that. But, I think it's been enjoyable so far, I’ve been having fun with it.

The Hitech driver rebounded well in Melbourne and will look to add more valuable points on home turf

“I think the biggest thing is just understanding the tyres. When I first got into the car, it was quite difficult to maximise lap time out of it and I was looking for lap time in probably the wrong places.

“So that's kind of where the biggest growth has been, is understanding the tyres and how it likes to be worked. And I think going forward, it's still something that I'm still not quite exactly where I want to be at with it.

“But, I'm making pretty big progression from the first day in the car until now. So I'm happy about that.”

Miami and Montreal being new venues on the F2 calendar means everyone heads into Rounds 2 and 3 on equal footing in terms of experience.

No team or driver has an advantage of previous data to rely upon, and Herta says it’s an element that should help him compared to tackling a street circuit in Melbourne his rivals had visited previously.

“I think it's not going to hurt. I think everybody's pretty gifted in this series, so I don't think it's going to be a difficult thing to get up to speed for them.

“But, I think it's definitely going to be more advantageous to me than maybe a place like Melbourne, where a lot of those guys have been to before, whether in F3 or F2. So yeah, I think it will probably be a little bit better for me.”